A generalization of the inertia theorem for quadratic matrix polynomials

We show that the inertia of a quadratic matrix polynomial is determined in terms of the inertia of its coefficient matrices if the leading coefficient is Hermitian and nonsingular, the constant term is Hermitian, and the real part of the coefficient matrix of the first degree term is definite. In particular, we prove that the number of zero eigenvalues of such a matrix polynomial is the same as the number of zero eigenvalues of its constant term. We also give some new results for the case where the real part of the coefficient matrix of the first degree term is semidefinite.